Police beat

Gahanna: Cops field calls about skunk, snakes, tortoise

Gahanna police fielded four unusual calls in one day regarding wildlife.

Gunshots were reported at 6:47 p.m. May 18 in the 250 block of Hamilton Road. A resident told police he heard neighbors having a possible dispute and then heard several gunshots.

Police discovered the shots were from a pellet gun.

A woman told police she had discharged a pellet gun because a skunk was trying to attack her dog and she was trying to scare it away.

Moments earlier, a tortoise was reported in the driveway going into Columbus Academy at 6:08 p.m. May 18 at 4300 Cherry Bottom Road.

And moments later, a Totten Drive resident reported a snake in her front yard at 6:51 p.m. May 18. The snake appeared to be a harmless garter snake, and the resident was told it eventually would leave the area if left alone.

A very large snake also was reported by two residents about 2:01 p.m. May 18 in the 150 block of Mill Street.

In other Gahanna police incident reports:

* A Dunbarton Road resident complained to police at 1:36 p.m. May 17 about a man selling pest-control services in the area. The salesman was marking driveways with a crayon so he would know he had been there, according to the resident. Police said he had company credentials but was advised to cease and desist.

* A resident reported a female with tattoos was trying to sell something at 2:04 p.m. May 16 in the 1000 block of Woodtown Drive. Universal Global Stars was the group soliciting without a permit, according to police.

* A suspicious person was reported at 3:23 p.m. May 15, soliciting replacement windows on Larry Lane. The caller told police the woman was soliciting but then asked if a hospital was in the area. The woman last was seen going toward East Johnstown Road.

* A Windward Way resident complained to police at 6:21 p.m. May 16 about her mother-in-law receiving a phone call, saying she won thousands of dollars and needed to meet the party at a bank the next day.

* Several men were warned about littering on Havens Corners Road at 1:59 p.m. May 15. Police had received a call about bright yellow and orange objects being thrown out the window of a black truck in Blacklick. A passenger in the vehicle said they had been discarding yellow popcorn.

* Two males were reported lying nude on the tennis courts of Hunters Ridge Apartments at 10:59 a.m. May 13. One left in a dark green Honda around the back of the apartments, and the other left on a bicycle, wearing yellow shorts and carrying a squirt gun.

* Police received an anonymous call at 5:57 p.m. May 13 to check a green electrical box for a missing front and exposed wires in front of the herb garden by Gahanna City Hall, 200 S. Hamilton Road.

* Frying grease appeared to be thrown at the entrance of a business in the 80 block of Granville Street. The incident is believed to have occurred sometime the evening of May 11 or 12, according to police reports.